Formation of Cu–Zr–Ni amorphous powders with significant supercooled liquid region by mechanical alloying technique

Abstract

The amorphous Cu–Ni–Zr alloys were successfully synthesized by mechanical alloying mixtures of pure crystalline Cu, Ni and Zr powders with SPEX high-energy ball mill. These ranges are similar to those for amorphous alloys produced by melt-spinning techniques. The structure and thermal stability of these alloys were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimeter. Several amorphous alloy samples were found to exhibit a wide supercooled liquid region before crystallization. The temperature interval of the supercooled liquid region defined by the difference between T g and T x, i.e. Δ T x (= T g− T x), is 34 K for Cu 10Zr 60Ni 30, 48 K for Cu 20Zr 60Ni 20, 78 K for Cu 40Zr 55Ni 5, 81 K for Cu 50Zr 35Ni 15, 61 K for Cu 50Zr 40Ni 10 and 64 K for Cu 50Zr 45Ni 5.